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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25672120">You are the sword, let me be your shield</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Need_To_Comment_Rising/pseuds/Need_To_Comment_Rising'>Need_To_Comment_Rising</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Grad School AU [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Cats - Andrew Lloyd Webber</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Activists Demeter and Bombalurina, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Human, Cross-Posted on Tumblr, F/F, F/M, Greek Demeter, Hurt/Comfort, Maghrebi Munkustrap, Mentions of Injuries, Multi, Polyamory, Punk Demeter, mentions of police brutality</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 04:40:27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,016</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25672120</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Need_To_Comment_Rising/pseuds/Need_To_Comment_Rising</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>A police raid has sent Demeter to the hospital with a head injury. Munkustrap doesn't take it well.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Bombalurina/Demeter (Cats), Bombalurina/Demeter/Munkustrap (Cats), Bombalurina/Munkustrap (Cats), Demeter/Munkustrap (Cats)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Grad School AU [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1861531</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>You are the sword, let me be your shield</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This was written for a tumblr prompt, namely "Demebombastrap, back from the hospital, "I don’t want to leave you just yet. It wouldn’t feel right.” " It kind of fits with the rest of my Human AU, but in my main stories Bombalurina isn't dating Demeter and Munkustrap, Alonzo is.</p><p>Big thank you to hearth_goddess for helping me find a title.</p><p>English is not my first language, so if you see something wrong, please tell me!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    
<p></p><div>
<p></p><div class="te"><p><em>'Έρχονται ώρες που οι σκέψεις με πληγώνουν                                                                                                   [There will come times when thoughts hurt me,<br/>
και δεν τελειώνουν τα "πως" και τα "γιατί"                                                                                                         and the 'how's and the 'why's won't stop;<br/>
Γι' αυτές τις ώρες κι οι δυο μας φταίμε                                                                                                              for those times, we're both guilty,<br/>
κι ό,τι κι αν λέμε τι ωφελεί;                                                                                                                                 and everything we say, what does it matter?<br/>
</em> <em>φτάνει που κλαίμε και που είμαστε μαζί...'                                                                                                    It's enough that we cry and that we are together...]<br/>
</em></p></div><div class="te"><p>"Φ<em>τάνει που κλαίμε</em>", Γιάννις Κότσιρας.</p></div><div class="te"><hr/></div></div><p>“I don’t want to go home! I’m perfectly fine, Munk, stop fretting!”</p><p>If there had been someone on the street at that moment, they would have been treated to a rather peculiar scene. An unlikely trio was coming out the doors of the hospital: a young woman in tight jeans and a t-shirt that revealed more than it covered, carrying two big gym bags; a dark-skinned man in a pressed button-up shirt and slacks; and, between them, a disgruntled punk, sporting a massive pout and a rather impressive bandage covering part of her short, spiky hair.</p><p>Unfortunately for any nosey neighbors, it was six in the morning and the streets were deserted. So Bombalurina, Demeter and Munkustrap were able to leave the place, still squabbling, without getting gawked at.</p><p>“It’s just a scratch, I’ve had worse.” Demeter rolled her eyes, slightly annoyed at her boyfriend’s mother-henning. Yes, she usually appreciated who caring and gentle he was, but he could get overbearing at times. “I didn’t even have a concussion! Look, there is a meeting with the striking steel workers in half an hour, and I promised the union I would be there. I can’t leave them hanging now!”</p><p>From the other side, Bombalurina chuckled softly. “Jellylorum called as soon as she found out about the police raid. What did you think? That she wouldn’t check on you? She’s taking your place, so you don’t have to worry about that. For once, I think I agree with Munkustrap: we’ve all had a really stressful night, and you’ve just had quite a few stitches. Also, I don’t know about you all, but I’m pretty beat” she stifled a yawn, trying to balance the weight of the gym bags as she did so. “And not everyone has supervisors as understanding of your political stances as you have, love. Munk and I are supposed to be at uni in the morning, remember?” she added, reaching over to give Demeter a playful shove, careful not to jostle her injury.</p><p>“Oh. That’s right.” The shorter woman looked ashamed for a moment, and then fixed her with a challenging stare. “You go home, then. I’ll go to the meeting on my own, and come back to the apartment when it’s over, ok? Jelly will take care of me if something goes wrong, you know she will. And she is more capable than any of us, no doubt about that.” she grinned encouragingly. She hoped Bomba would be the easier to convince of the two. The other girl was relatively new at the union, but she had been there for the first aid trainings, and she had seen Jellylorum in action. She knew that the nurse could handle it if she suddenly kneeled over.</p><p>“I don’t want to leave you just yet. It wouldn’t feel right.” came the whispered answer from Munkustrap. As the girls turned around, they were welcomed by the sight of Munkustrap, face turned away, hugging himself tightly. He continued speaking after a small pause, and when he finally looked up, there were tears in his eyes. “<em>Habibti</em>, I know this is what drives you, and I admire you for it: I wouldn’t want you any other way, and I won’t stand between you and your ideals. But when Bombalurina called at four in the morning, saying that the university squat had been raided and that she was taking you to the hospital with a head injury… I nearly broke down. If something happened to you… If I had to go on without you by my side…” his voice broke, and he scrubbed roughly at his face. “I’m sorry. Just give me a minute.”</p><p>Demeter stared for a moment, lost for words, as Bombalurina gently put the gym bags down and went over to hug him. Her heart ached for her partner, as he softly sobbed into his girlfriend’s shoulder, and guilt pooled in her gut. How hadn’t she seen this? They’ve known each other for almost a decade, been best friends for almost all of it. He was, although politically conscious, a pacifist at heart, and someone who cared deeply about his loved ones. Of course he would take badly being awakened in the middle of the night to the news that his partner was in hospital.</p><p>“Oh, <em>matia mou</em>, I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry.” she whispered as she hugged them both tightly, feeling on the verge of tears herself as she felt the sobs that tore through his body. “I didn’t think, I should have known, I’m sorry. I’m here, I’m fine, I won’t leave you. Breathe, <em>kardia mou</em>, everything’s ok…” She continued for a bit in that sense, until she finally felt Munkustrap calming down a little, his breathing coming back to a normal speed. When that happened, Bombalurina extracted herself from the embrace, and, with a final caress on the still trembling man’s head, she said “Okay, you two. We’re all wrung-out physically and emotionally and this is not the place nor the time to have a heart-to-heart.  Come on, let’s get home and sleep this off. We’ll talk it out in the morning.” And taking the bags again, she started walking to the station, to get on the bus that would take them all home, to a bed where Munkustrap could curl around Demeter, holding her tight, while Bombalurina held to her from the other side. And in the morning they would talk about all this over breakfast, about fears, and wants, and boundaries, and loss, and then share some loving kisses and go to work. And continue growing. Together.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>- <i>Habibti</i> (حبيبي) means “my love” in Arabic. Both <i>matia mou</i> (μάτια μου) and <i>kardia mou</i> (καρδιά μου) are common Greek pet names. <i>Matia mou</i> literally means “my eyes” and <i>kardia mou</i> means “my heart”.</p><p>- The incident that resulted on Demeter’s injury is based on something that happened at my university a few years ago. The student assembly decided to block the campus to protest against the new law that made university about ten times more expensive for non-nationals, and to do so a group of students occupied the main buildings. One night, at around four in the morning, the police barged in, destroyed everything they found and dragged everyone outside by force. Quite a few of the students ended up needing medical care, and at least one broke their arm.</p><p>Kudos make me very happy, comments are life! I'm open to constructive criticism!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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